Porsche Penske Motorsport driver Laurens Vanthoor has talked of his excitement ahead of the Belgian’s home race, the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
Speaking to Endurance Archive in a round table organised in collaboration with Mobil 1, Vanthoor praised the resurfacing work that has been completed at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps since the FIA World Endurance Championship’s last visit.
“The new surface is really nice, and we are up to two seconds quicker per lap,” Vanthoor said. “There is a lot more grip in certain places, making it very fun to drive.”
But the Belgian also noted that the changes in conditions would have an impact on the car: “It changes the approach on our setup, and the loads on the car are higher, as are the speeds. The stresses on the tyres will also be something to watch out for.”
One eye on Le Mans
With the 24 Hours of Le Mans – the highlight of the season – looming on the horizon, Vanthoor also spoke about how the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps serves as a dress rehearsal for the big race.
“From a driver’s perspective, there’s not so much [to learn in Spa]. Le Mans is very specific in its ways, and it’s very difficult to copy that. But from an engineering perspective, there are many more similarities between the two.” Regarding the parallels between Le Mans and Spa, Vanthoor added that there were a lot more “compared to Qatar and Imola […], like on set-up, ride height, how the track is at high speed. So it’s more based towards the car.”
New faces in both cars
Another part of Porsche Penske Motorsport’s preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans is the addition of Pascal Wehrlein alongside Vanthoor and Kévin Estre in the #6 (with Nico Müller replacing Mathieu Jaminet in the #5).
For Vanthoor, integrating a new driver into the team is a positive step for the team but also brings challenges: “Pascal is there to get more experience and drivetime ahead of Le Mans, which is completely fair and understandable. We will have to do the best job we can.”
Mixed emotions ahead of season highlight
With Porsche’s disappointing start to the season so far, Vanthoor spoke of an atmosphere of mixed emotions among the Porsche Penske Motorsport team looking ahead to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
“Last year obviously the programme took a huge step forward,” the Belgian said. “We won pretty much everything besides Le Mans. The beginning of the year has been very successful in IMSA, with three race wins. It’s also clear that we have been struggling a little in the first three races of the FIA WEC season, although I still think we have been doing a good job. We have been functioning well as a team, and have a good car, so our chances are hopefully very good for Le Mans.”
The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps goes green at 14:00 local time on Saturday 10 May.
Images © Endurance Archive (Walter Schruff)